A Noble Serpent and Hawk
by Afleurdelis
Summary: Draco Malfoy struggles significantly during his sixth year of Hogwarts with a certain dilemma. During that year, however, he befriends a few unexpected people like Astoria Greengrass and Adelle Blackwood. DracoOC, eventual DracoAstoria


I decided to write a story that revolved around Draco during book six, including a bit of romance. I also wanted to introduce Astoria as a character, but I feel that sixteen-year-old Draco may not be so interested in fourteen-year-old Astoria, (although, really, who knows?) so I ended up introducing another character. They are both technically original, I suppose, since Astoria has no character development whatsoever, so I based everything about her off of her name.

Anyway, in the beginning it will be DracoAdelle, and by the end DracoAstoria. (So, really, DracoOC to DracoOC? Yes, basically.)

Also, if you have any input whatsoever, feel free to put it in, be it "What the hell were you thinking with ?" or "This part doesn't make sense..." etc. I don't really listen to flames, but if you must, go right ahead. What I am trying to say is that feedback would really help me to improve, and I want to be a better writer.

* * *

Another school year approached just the same as a train approached Hogwarts castle. The sixth year would to a rather unfortunate extent for Draco prove to be fairly different from his fifth year. The natural order of the school had been disrupted with the chaos presented from the ministry, and the delightfully twisted Umbridge turned the school upside-down.

Actually, he hadn't cared one bit for Dolores. Treating her as if she were a truly brilliant woman gave him a position in school that he rather fancied: he was cunning, after all. Now he would have significantly less power on school grounds, which would take some getting used to, as well as having to deal with Dumbledore reinstated.

His father clearly detested Dumbledore as headmaster of Hogwarts and although Draco was not so happy with Dumbledore himself he did not actually hate the man. The words of his father seemed to spill out in front of his peers and when he was younger he almost blindly followed all of his father's opinions as if they were his own. Now that he was older he could sense more of his own opinions, those that agreed with his fathers and those in contrast to what he had learned as a child. Certainly he did not loathe Dumbledore with such passion as his father did. No, he just hated the rather watchful eye that Dumbledore seemed to have on him all of the time.

Although, as irony would have it, his task would be so much easier if he did loathe that man the way that his father did. By the end of the year he... somehow had to ensure that Dumbledore would die. If he did not complete the task, someone else would, but it would be much preferred that he did it. He had to prove his loyalty to the Dark Lord, after all. His father wanted it for him more than he did, but he would not object to what his father wanted. He couldn't explain not pledging his allegiance to the Dark Lord, and he looked forward to finally being old enough to as a child. It was confusing as hell.

Perhaps it was just part of being a teenager. It really shouldn't be a confusing thing at all. He was the Draco Malfoy. Everyone knew who he was, and everyone knew what to expect of him.

Before he knew it, he was walking in the corridors of Hogwarts again, bumping into a group of three as he passed. For a moment he could have sworn that they were his favorite trio in the world but a second glance told him otherwise.

"Don't you ever watch where you are going?" He sneered at them. "I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be intelligent."

The three stared back at him, one of them with a rather surprised expression and the other two raising their eyebrows at him defiantly. The more he saw of them, the less they resembled the trio. There were two boys, the ones that were less impressed with him, one of them with pale blond hair and the other of apparent Asian descent. Their companion, a girl with blonde hair of a slightly copper color and far shorter than either of them, folded her arms with some amusement, yet she said nothing.

He recognized them from his year, although he could have cared less about them. The darker haired boy was Ken Young, the blonder one Ivan Baker, and the girl was Adelle Blackwood.

Ken approached Malfoy, looking up at him before scolding him back. "I'll watch where I am going as soon as you do."

He didn't need this now. He was about to verbally thrash the other boy, but the girl grabbed onto his arm and started to pull him away. "Well, that sounds like a plan, doesn't it?" she added in a pleasant voice that had no trace of tension. She was holding onto the hands of both of her friends at this point, leading them towards the great hall. "Best to move along now."

As they disappeared around the corner, he paid no more attention to them. He had better things to do than to worry about annoying students from other houses and continued on to the feast that would be waiting in the great hall once the first years were all sorted. He seemed to drift away into thought as he sat down, not even paying attention to the new Slytherins that were being added to his table.

He was actually relatively good at keeping his cool. Perhaps his detachment from his friends on the train while telling them of his plan allowed him to notice that he had an observer listening in on him. Not that it really mattered much, but he couldn't afford to have someone nosing around in his business all of the time. Either way he had not seen any of them over the long summer break so it was natural that they were ready to take anything that flew out of his mouth, even if it turned out to be nothing really. Of course, he wouldn't make any plans on the Hogwarts train of all places, and who knows who could have been listening in.

Pansy, naturally, couldn't have been more delighted stroking his hair as he told everyone that he had something to do. Boasting with pride about the task without giving out the details certainly made everything seem better. If not better, a little in the right anyway. As for Miss Parkinson, he knew that if she didn't get something now she would be impossible to deal with for quite some time. He did not mind all that much, but she tended to be outright clingy at times. It was not as if they were actually dating or ever going to.

His thoughts were kept mostly to himself for the rest of the night, and he hadn't even bothered to take a strong note of the fact that Harry Potter joined the Gryffindor table in time for the great feast, despite being stunned and hidden under the invisibility cloak. He would have actually taken it to put it to some use, but he didn't want Potter following him around further in pursuit of something that belonged to him. He decided that if he had a task to complete it was best to see it being completed as quickly as possible, and headed off to the library.

* * *

He walked up and down the aisles looking for something that would be of any use, but he didn't seem to find anything that would help. Mending magical objects did not seem to be a very popular topic, at least not of the sort he was looking for. Fixing the Vanishing Cabinet had to be done very carefully and he wasn't even sure how all of the broken pieces fit together. A simple spell probably wouldn't fix that object, it was far too complicated. At least he was fortunate to have all of the pieces.

As he took a pathetic pile of books over to the table he noticed that there was one other student in the library. Daphne Greengrass, by the look of her blonde hair, and she was sleeping on top of half of a book. Scanning over the rather tall pile of books that she had with her, it seemed that some of them could be of use to him. They were on various cases of dark arts and magical counter curses or undoings in some fashion, although it didn't seem that any of them had to do with magical repair.

He set down the pile of books that he had on a nearby table, and strode over to the table the Greengrass girl was sleeping at. He picked up the end of the book to glance at the title. _The Guide to Magical Repair of Cursed Heirlooms_. He raised an eyebrow as he wondered about whether or not that book would be of any use. He tried to pry it out from under her, causing the girl to stir. It would be best if he took the book before she managed to wake up, but perhaps it would be impossible. Unfortunately, right when he got the book out from under her, her forehead smacked down on the table and she ceased to be asleep anymore.

The girl looked up, rubbing her red forehead with a sleepy daze. She seemed to be mildly confused. Of course, he wanted the book, and he certainly wasn't about to give it up. He leaned over the pile of books and gave her a bit of a smirk. If he charmed her, she certainly wouldn't mind. "You wouldn't mind if I borrowed this, would you Daphne?"

The girl frowned and slammed her hands down on the table. "I'm _not _Daphne!" She stood up to look at him, her eyes meeting his as the smile faded from his face. He was certainly mistaken; that was not Daphne Greengrass. The girl looked like Daphne, but on further inspection she was not even a Slytherin. Instead, based on the robes she was wearing, she was a Ravenclaw. He looked a little confused. Her resemblance to Daphne was uncanny, but there were subtle differences. She had overall softer features that just seemed more approachable.

Draco frowned. She obviously wasn't a sixth year, or he would recognize her, so she couldn't have been a twin. Then again, Daphne never really mentioned her sister. She had one, but he never cared to take note after that fact had been established. "Who are you then?"

The girl stood up, regaining her composure as she turned to look at him. Not many people looked directly at him while speaking to him. "My name is Astoria Greengrass."

That made sense. She must be a younger sister, for she certainly didn't look older, and seemed to be used to the mistake of being called Daphne. Nonetheless, she had probably heard of him, and would be just as easily to charm as any other younger Hogwarts student. The smirk came back to his face as he decided that he wasn't above charming a Ravenclaw to get what he wanted. "Astoria is a pretty name. I like it more than Daphne."  
Astoria looked a little surprised, but then she smiled. "Oh, well, thank you." Women were so easy to charm. He picked up the book and showed it to her, the smirk still planted on his face. "You wouldn't mind if I borrowed this, would you?"

The smile still written on her face, she approached him as she walked around the table, and took the book from him. "Actually, I would. I wanted to read that."

He was a little taken aback. It was the only book she picked up from her pile as she walked around him, then she turned back to look at him. "You may have it when I am finished with it, if you like." She picked up her bag as she walked over to Madame Pince's desk to check out the book. He frowned as he looked after her, then turned to look at the pile of books she left behind. Not only did he need that book, but he needed it far more than she ever would. For the rest of the day, it seemed that his good mood was turned to a rather bad one.


End file.
